This is the second feature in my new series, The Story Behind the Story. If you missed the first painting in the series you can read the story here. This is a short series of weekly posts, 5 in total, each focusing on one particular painting from my narrative work.

The train came by every day at 2:15. The house would give a familiar shudder.

The story behind the story:

My friend, Ellie Stewart originally told me of this. It was her memory of living in the old banana factory at Dublin and Aylmer Streets in Peterborough, Ontario. The banana Factory was originally a bakery and then a crayon factory. It got its name from the odd shape that was necessary to build a building that would accommodate a curve in the railway tracks. In the 1970s the Banana Factory was inhabited by artists and musicians familiar to the local scene. It was the home of the attic pottery and the original location of Ed’s music workshop. Ellie and her family lived in the second story apartment. The train track was so close to the building that they could see the conductor passing a foot from the window. Their young daughter, Erin, would wave at him and he’d wave back at her.